Phone Games
by TheShatteredRose
Summary: Ukitake has been given a new phone, but he doesn't know how to use it. Ichigo does, thankfully. ::Hinted Ichigo/Ukitake:: Fluff, mostly :3


**Title: **Phone Games

**Summary:** Ukitake has been given a new phone, but he doesn't know how to use it. Ichigo does, thankfully.

**Pairings:** Hinted Ichigo/Ukitake

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of the Bleach series and I am making no profit from any of this whatsoever.

**Warnings:** Just some fluff

**AN: **Again, I'm sorry for dropping off the face of the earth for so long. You see, I've been having these chronic headaches and have been referred to this Neurologist. Well, I couldn't get into see him for about three months, and when I do I was sent for an MRI, to another city that was an hour and ¾ of an hour's drive from home. And then, about four days later I was sent a letter that was filled with medical gibberish I didn't understand, but what I did understand said that I had a mass of unknown substance on my Pituitary gland. Well, I rang up my Neurologist wanting to know what the hell was going on and guess what? He was on holidays…for three weeks! D: Yeah, cue much freaking out. Didn't help that I have three aunties that are nurses who were 'helpful' in so-not-really-helpfully-at-all in their own unique ways.

Turns out, though, it was just some spinal fluid and nothing to worry about…

D: Yeah, just lost ten years of my life imaging the worse. Nothing to worry about here! I'm glad it was nothing, but a simple phone call to clear it all up would have been nice! I wish I never got that stupid letter. Ignorance is bliss…

Anyway, just some pointless fluff. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

It had been said that today's advanced technology was to improved productivity of work scheduling and multi-tasking and all around efficiency of today's busy businessman or career woman.

But that didn't mean it was the same for your busy Soul Reaper.

Especially your very busy, human technology inept Captain.

Because, let's face. Getting one's head around the ever rapidly evolving telephone communications of those in the World of the Living wasn't something on top of a captains' Must-Do-List.

Especially when things like, oh say, protecting said human from being devoured by Hollows or being dragged into the scorching depths of hell was on said list. Or being slaughtered in a war being entities hell-bent on ruling the world in a power struggle of epic proportions.

Or, as another example, trying to complete a backlog of paperwork while keeping one eye on their rather bored and restless twin human form of their Zanpakutō while keeping the other on the chibi lieutenant of Division 11 who had decided to completely clear you out of candy. Of which, she had already done so.

Yesterday.

"Sougy-chan, could you please not climb on the book case like that?" Ukitake asked, trying to keep his voice level and calm, hiding the increasing pitch of exasperation of having asked that for the countless time today. The childish Zanpakutō was aloft of a tall bookcase that was full of important documents, grinning and waving down at his twin. "And Koto-chan? Could you please stop trying to knock him off of said book case with water bombs...in the middle of my office?"

There was a crash in another part of his office and though he did not turn from his desk, he knew where it came from and who was responsible. "And Yachiru-chan, dear? I'm afraid I'm all out of candy. You ratted out the place yesterday and I wasn't able to restock..."

"Ukki! I want more candy!"

"Uki-chan! Let's play"

"Let's play, Uki-chan!"

"I'm still trying to work out this new phone."

With all this going on, how was he supposed to complete his paperwork? And work out this fandangle new phone that Rukia-chan had presented to him this morning before she left to complete her duties? He had only just managed to turn the jolly thing on and it was currently flashing something at him. He had barely had the time to glance at the screen, let alone actually read the thick instruction manual that came along with it. What was it, 300 pages long?

"Ukitake-san?"

Oh, that was a new voice.

"Oh, Ichigo-kun?" Ukitake was honestly surprised to see the orange-haired youth standing in the doorway of his office. "I didn't see you there. What brings you here? Are you looking for Rukia-chan? Or are you hiding from Captain Kenpachi again?"

"Eh? Just passing by," Ichigo said dismissively with a one shoulder shrug before he let himself into the room, an ever present scowl on his face as he glanced around with suspicious eyes. "Are you babysitting?"

"I guess so," Ukitake couldn't help but chuckle at his expression. "You see-"

Before he could explain the circumstance leading to his current situation, however, there was a low buzzing noise and Koto-chan pointed at the new, slick phone that was sitting on haphazardly on top of the box of which it had been packaged in.

"Uki-chan! It's glowing!"

"Hm?"

"Eh?" Ichigo tilting his head toward the device as well before both his eyebrows reached toward his ruffled hairline in an expression of surprise. "You've got an iPhone?"

So that was the model of the phone.

"It was a gift given to me by my Division," Ukitake explain, not really understanding if the model of the phone was significant or not. To be honest, he didn't know one phone from the other. "It was so they had direct contact with me whenever they had missions in the World of the Living. Unfortunately, I'm not all that familiar with human world technology and I haven't had the time to actually sit down and-Sougy-chan, what do you think you are doing!"

Ukitake abruptly halted mid explanation when he spied Sougy-chan about to clobber Koto-chan with a rather sharp and heavy looking statue that had been decorating the bookshelf that he had been occupying upon. He immediately leaned up and snatched the heavy object from his tiny hands with one hand and clipping him behind the ear with the other.

"Apologise to your brother."

"Sorry!"

Ichigo watched the scene with a sense of mild amusement in his eyes, although his face remained creased in the usual teenaged angst. "Want me to set it up for you?" he asked suddenly, indicating toward the phone with his chin.

Placing the statue back on the shelf, the twins having run off outside to play, Ukitake turned around and had an expression of relief on his face. He has had that phone for hours now, so who knows how many missed calls he had already received.

"Oh, could you? All I need it to do is ring, really," he said. "I don't have time for it do much else, I'm afraid."

"I can see that," Ichigo said, the corners of his lips twitching into a smile as he reached for the phone, picking up and already his fingers expertly tapping away on the screen. "But, I'll show you how to send and retrieve text messages anyway. It's not hard. You'll catch on quickly. Here, before that I'll put my number in here as well."

"Sure," Ukitake said, smiling. He was a little surprised that Ichigo would want to have his number on the phone of an old man like his, but honoured all the same.

Still tapping away on the phone, Ichigo leaned against Ukitake's desk before, suddenly, reaching out and arm and snaring Ukitake's wrist in his hand. He pulled him toward him and then next to him so they were shoulder to shoulder. Their close bodily contact surprised Ukitake considerably, but he chose not to dwell on it. Instead, he settled himself down, relaxing a little even as Ichigo positioned the phone between the two of them.

"So, here..." Ichigo then went on the demonstrate how to open, write, send and receive text messages. He also showed how to have instant messages, conversations and the like. It was a little bit confusing, especially when it seemed all the more simple just to pick up the phone and dial a number to actually speak to a person. But youth, Ichigo explained to him, liked to send a simple text message sometimes instead of ringing. Something about convenience.

Although, he did say text speak, as he called it, would take some getting used to. Which, he promised, not to use if he ever text him for any reason.

"Ukki! I thought you said you had no more candy!"

"Yachiru!" Ukitake jumped straight up to his feet and shunpo'd his way into the kitchen. "Don't eat anything under the kitchen sink, please!"

He managed to pick the pink-haired lieutenant into his arms and prevent her from shoving some brightly coloured rat poison into her mouth. He uttered words of 'not candy' and promises of 'getting candy' for her tomorrow, while telling her that 'Ken-chan' had missed her so, so, so, SO much that she run all the way to him and give him a big hug. That, thankfully, made her even more cheerful than she already was (despite not having any candy). And with a cheerful goodbye and the promise (threat) to return tomorrow, she went on her merry way.

Although swallowing the rat poison would not have killed her, being raised by the one and only Zaraki Kenpachi, Yachiru would be able to stomach things men ten times her age, height and weight would never be able to do, it might have made her sick. And Kenpachi, while he would deny it to the death, was a very dangerous father-figure.

"Sorry about that," Ukitake apologised as he walked back into his office, noting that Ichigo had made no attempt to move from his original position. In fact, he was still tinkering at the phone.

Ichigo glanced up at him. "She didn't eat anything?"

Ukitake shook his head. "No."

"That's good. I don't think it would have affected her, anyway," Ichigo said, a smirk of mirth on his lips. "She lives with Division 11, after all."

Ukitake laughed. So he wasn't the only one who thought that. Perhaps it was a common perception. "That is very true."

"Anyway, I better get going," Ichigo said as he shrugged, heaving himself away from the desk. He walked over to Ukitake and handed the phone to him. "I'll see you later."

"Oh, you'll be returning?"

Ichigo gave him this rather mysterious look. "Maybe," he said before abruptly leaving.

That gained Ukitake's curiosity, he had to admit. And it held his interest for the rest of the day. No longer was the everyday interruptions of his Division members nor his Zanpakutō that distracted him. It was that human boy.

And he couldn't figure out why.

"He had always been an oddity, that boy," Ukitake mused to himself as he tapped his writing brush against his chin.

The sound of his new phone chiming pulled him out of his thoughts. A few hours had passed since he had been shown how to used it and, well, he was still getting the hang of it. He picked it up and a message flashed across it. It wasn't a text message and it wasn't an incoming call. It was something else.

"What's this?" Ukitake murmured. "An appointment reminder?"

A dinner date with...Ichigo Kurosaki? This Saturday?

When did...

Oh...

That clever boy. Ukitake read the reminder again and couldn't help but chuckled. He was surprised, fluttered and, to be honest, interested.

Well then, since he went to all that trouble, where was the harm?

Now, if he remembered what Ichigo taught him about ringing someone all he had to do was locate Ichigo's number and press call. Ah, it was ringing.

"Yeah?" Ichigo's voice was pretty immediate on the other end of the line.

"Ah, evening, Ichigo-kun," Ukitake said gracefully, pushing aside his paperwork as they didn't seem all that important anymore. "I was just ringing to confirm if Saturday was still going to occur."

There was a silent pause on Ichigo's end of the phone before, "Of course it is."

"That's wonderful to hear," Ukitake said as he felt a smile slip across his lips. "You're very creative, you know that?"

This time, he heard Ichigo laugh drift over the phone. He sounded somewhat nervous. He sounded like, well, like a teenager trying to psych himself up for his first date. "Well, you've been so busy lately so I decided that you needed some time off."

Ukitake felt his gaze soften and he resisted the urge to sigh. "You're thoughtful too. So, where are we meeting on Saturday?"

"That's a surprise. I'll pick you up at 7pm."

"I look forward to it."

Maybe having a piece of human technology lying around would prove useful after all.

* * *

:3 It was nice actually getting back into writing something after not doing so for so long! Ah, I feel cleansed!


End file.
